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©ration 



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Centennial of Cleveland 



©bio. 



ORATION 



DELIVERED AT 



THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



OF 



CLEVELAND, OHIO, 



ON 



PERRY'S VICTORY DAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1896, 



BY HIS EXCELLENCY 



CHARLES WARREN LIP1T1T. 



GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 
AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. 



T. 



l«1t 



t 355 



PRESS OF 

E. L. FREEMAN & .SUNS, 

PROVIDENCE, K. I. 



In Exchange 
Brown University 

aUG25 1932 



PERRY'S VICTORY. 



Interest in one's birthplace is natural to the human race. 
Surroundings that become familiar to us in childhood main- 
tain their hold upon our affections in later life. Love of 
home constitutes one of the strongest motives for human 
action. If its environments constitute in themselves a 
name, a body corporate, of which the home forms a con- 
stituent part, the affection for the latter extends itself to 
its surroundings. For the state or the nation of which we 
form a part, similar sentiments are entertained. 

The anniversaries now occurring in many parts of the 
country furnish admiral)! e opportunities for the examina- 
tion of the results of generations of effort. To recall the 
services of patriots in behalf of the community, in peace 
and in war, educates the present generation for similar 
emergencies. Attention is drawn to what has already 
been accomplished. Comparison is made with the results 
secured by neighboring communities. What has been 
gained inspires the desire for greater advantages. A com- 
munity extending its influence to distant parts of the earth 
awakens a natural pride on the part of its units. The 
power of the Eternal City caused the announcement 
" Civis llomanus sum " to stand for ages as a guaranty of 



consideration and protection throughout the civilized 
world. 

It was a happy circumstance that caused the settlement 
of the Western Reserve upon the nation's birthday. With 
true American spirit the little band of pioneers, under the 
leadership of Moses Cleaveland, celebrated that to them 
important fourth of July. Toasts indicating thankfulness 
for the past and hope for the future were announced in 
the customary manner. Good punch was provided. The 
President of the United States was remembered, in accord- 
ance with time-honored custom. Port of Independence 
they named Conneaut, the place where the celebration was 
held. " May the Port of Independence and the fifty sons 
and daughters who have entered it this day be successful 
and prosperous," they hopefully offered. " May these sons 
and daughters multiply in sixteen years sixteen times 
fifty," again expressed their anticipations. It is recorded 
that after the celebration, notwithstanding the effect of the 
punch, they retired in good order. 

Ohio in 1810 had a population of 230,000. Her people 
were subject to all the hardships of a frontier life, border- 
ing upon a territory held by a savage race. Unable to 
accommodate themselves to the system of the white men, 
brave and determined as they had often proved themselves, 
the Indians had no alternative but to fight for an inferior 
civilization. There could be but one end to such a conflict. 
Bravely as it was maintained by the savage, it was inevi- 
table that he should perish with his institutions. While 
the conflict continued, however, it subjected the frontier to 
deeds of horror that rendered far more terrible the strug- 



gle that the early settlers were forced to maintain againsl 



nature 



At the opening of the war of 1812, the efforts of the 
country were at once directed toward an invasion of 
Canada. The necessity of controlling the water communi- 
cations furnished by the lakes was not perhaps fully ap- 
preciated by the government at Washington. Hull was 
placed in command in Michigan and attacked the Canadian 
frontier. His defeat, and the surrender of Detroit and the 
territory of Michigan, astounded and inflamed the country. 
It permitted the savage allies of the English to attack the 
settlers of Michigan, and exposed the entire frontier to 
their inhuman warfare. The invasion of our own country 
by the English and the Indians overcame in many cases 
such resistance as could be offered, and carried death and 
desolation to many homes. Tecumseh had brought to the 
conflict all the resources of his savage and commanding 
mind. The defeat at the River Raisin had been turned 
into a massacre. Colonel Proctor, violating the terms of 
the capitulation, abandoned the wounded Americans to his 
Indian allies. The savages tomahawked some of the 
wounded and set Are to the buildings where others had 
been placed. Their yells and laughter were the only 
replies to the shrieks of their burning victims. The best 
blood of Kentucky was sacrificed to the fury of the 
Indians. A relative of Henry Clay was among the vic- 
tims. One officer was scalped in the presence of his 
friends. Rising upon his knees, with blood streaming 
from his wound, he helplessly gazed upon their faces. An 
Indian boy was directed by his father to tomahawk him. 



6 

Not strong enough to accomplish the deed, his repeated 
blows only drew faint moans from the wounded man. A 
blow from the savage father, to exhibit how it should be 
delivered, ended the tragedy. The cry for vengeance that 
arose from Kentucky and the neighboring frontier found 
its satisfaction on another occasion. 

The savage hate entertained by Tecumseh for the Amer- 
icans inspired him to unite the Indians of the entire frontier 
in an organized effort to turn back the tide of immigration 
that was rapidly taking possession of their lands. With 
the intelligence and energy of a more civilized man, he 
traveled nearly a thousand miles through the wilderness 
to bring the Creeks and the other tribes about the southern 
frontier into the alliance. The scenes enacted on the north- 
ern frontier were duplicated, with perhaps increased hor- 
ror, 'in the south. The influence of England made itself 
felt in the Spanish possessions of Louisiana. England's 
assistance in freeing Spain from the French invasion justi- 
fied Spanish aid to England in America. The capture of 
Mobile by Wilkinson furnished evidence of the efforts of 
the Spanish and English to inflame the savages of the 
southern frontier. Aided by these efforts, Tecumseh suc- 
ceeded in drawing the Creeks into his combination. At 
the capture of Fort Minims on the Alabama, which had 
become the refuge of many frontier families, the horrors 
perpetrated by the savage foe can never be adequately 
conveyed in language. The mutilation of bodies and the 
violation of women marked the scene. The frontier from 
north to south was open to the incursions of a savage and 
relentless foe. The successful defence of Fort Meigs by 



Harrison, and of Fort Stephenson by Croghan, constituted 
some offset to these disasters. This war was not between 
a savage and a civilized nation. The parties to it were 
primarily two peoples speaking the same language, of the 
same general characteristics, and within a comparatively 
few years united under one government. That England 
should have called to her aid in such a conflict her fero- 
cious allies cannot be contemplated save with exasperation 
and horror. It marks a page in her history to be remem- 
bered only with shame and regret. 

In such circumstances, Captain Oliver Hazard Terry w r as 
ordered to this region to create a suitable fleet, and with it 
obtain the command of Take Erie. He brought with him 
from Ehode Island about 150 men. They had been trained 
under his direction on the waters in and about Narragansett 
Bay, and had volunteered to accompany him to Lake Erie. 
The different detachments left Newport in February, 1813, 
and in March reached Erie. 

The advantage of the control of the lake was largely a 
matter of transportation. Previous to 1818 no regular 
communication existed with this portion of Ohio and with 
Detroit. Stao-e routes were first established in these sec- 
tions in that year. Without good roadways the cost of 
transportation is tremendously increased. James, in his 
Naval History of Great Britain, states: ''that every round 
shot cost one shilling a pound for the carriage from Quebec 
to Lake Erie, that powder was ten times as dear as at 
home, and that, for anchors, their weight in silver would 
be scarcely an overestimate." To transport, therefore, ;i 
24-pound shot from Quebec to Lake Erie, at the time men- 



tioned, would cost six dollars. Similar difficulties existed 
on the American side of the lake. It was claimed that to 
transport a cannon to Sackett's Harbor at this period cost 
a thousand dollars. The cost of transporting provisions to 
a small detachment of Harrison's forces in the northwest 
would in present circumstances supply a considerable army. 
Transportation by water was greatly less in cost and much 
quicker in time. Facilities of transportation, therefore, in 
the warlike operations around Lake Erie in 1813, were 
sufficiently important to determine the question of success 
or failure. English control of the lake in 1812, and the 
principal part of 1813, enabled them to attack such points of 
the American shore as they might select. Their approach 
could not be foreseen. The uncertainty of their appearance 
necessarily alarmed the entire American shore. The Eng- 
lish, knowing the point of attack, could concentrate their 
forces. Want of this information obliged the Americans to 
divide their armies. The English shore was practically 
free from American attack, as the lake intervened. The 
shortest line of transportation also secured the quickest 
and most certain means of information. English control 
of the lake during the first part of the war handicapped 
the offensive and defensive operations of the Americans. 
It is difficult, therefore, to overestimate in such circum- 
stances the importance of the command of the lake. 

The many difficult and annoying circumstances attending 
the construction of a fleet in the wilderness furnished an 
opportunity for the energy, perseverance and determination • 
of young Perry. Buffalo, Philadelphia, Pittsburg and other 
points were called upon for supplies. Carpenters, black- 



smiths, guns, sails, rigging and iron were urgently needed. 
To hurry forward mechanics and supplies, Perry journeyed 
to Pittsburg. The resources of the immediate neighbor- 
hood were taxed to the utmost to supply many unaccus- 
tomed articles necessary to the construction of vessels of 
war. The work was pushed with the utmost speed. 

On the 23d of May, Perry learned that Commodore 
Chauncey, on Lake Ontario, was to attack Fort George. 
The Commodore had promised him the command of the 
sailors and marines on this occasion. lie at once started 
in an open boat for Buffalo. After a journey of great incon- 
venience, he succeeded in reaching Commodore Chauncey 
and in taking part in the expedition. Chauncey was par- 
ticularly pleased with Perry's arrival, and observed, "No 
person on earth at that particular time could be more wel- 
come." His professional know ledge was of great assistance 
in the landing of the troops, and his example inspired the 
men with confidence. In his official report Commodore 
Chauncey said of Perry's services: "He was present at 
every point where he could be useful, under showers of 
musketry, but fortunately escaped unhurt." 

The capture of Fort George enabled Perry to move into 
Lake Erie five small vessels which had been blockaded at 
Black Rock by the enemy. They had to be dragged against 
the current of the Niagara River by oxen, seamen, and a 
detail of two hundred soldiers. After a fortnight of diffi- 
culty and fatigue he succeeded in getting the little squadron 
into Lake Erie. These vessels were much too small to con- 
tend with the enemy's forces then upon the lake. By good 
fortune, however, he eluded the English and reached Erie 



10 

on the evening of the 18th of June, shortly before they 
appeared. 

Finally the two brigs, which had been named the Law- 
rence and the Niagara, were completed, and everything was 
in readiness to cross the bar at the mouth of the harbor. 
The English had watched the construction of the American 
vessels and made various efforts to accomplish their de- 
struction. To attempt the passage of the bar in the face 
of the enemy's fleet would have been extremely hazardous. 
Unexpectedly, about the first of August, the English fleet 
disappeared from the neighborhood of Erie. It is claimed 
that the absence of the English was to enable Commodore 
Barclay and his officers to attend a public dinner in Canada. 
The commodore is said to have remarked, in reply to a com- 
plimentary toast : " I expect to find the Yankee brigs hard 
and fast on the bar at Erie, when I return, in which pre- 
dicament it will be but a small job to destroy them." This 
circumstance furnished Perry his opportunity. He hastened 
by every means in his power the lifting of his heavy ves- 
sels over the bar. Camels, large wooden scows, had been 
provided to assist in this purpose. The guns of the Law- 
rence were hoisted out and placed in boats astern. With 
much difficulty the vessel was lifted into deep water on the 
lake side of the bar. The Niagara was still on the bar when 
the enemy's fleet appeared in the offing. Extra exertions 
succeeded shortly after in getting her into the deep water 
of the lake. Perry's fleet as then constituted was more 
powerful than that under Barclay's command. 

Commodore Barclay viewed with astonishment the Amer- 
ican fleet safely floating upon the waters of the lake, and, 



II 

realizing that his supremacy for the time being was gone, 
sailed away to await the completion of the Detroit, then 
under construction at Maiden. The command of the lake 
had passed from England to America. 

In response to Perry's urgent appeals to the authorities, 
he received on the 9th of August, about one hundred offi- 
cers and men under the command of Captain Jesse 1). 
Elliott. This addition to his force enabled him to man 
the Niagara, which was placed under the command of Cap- 
tain Elliott. At once taking the initiative, Perry sailed 
up the lake to cooperate with General Harrison. 

It is interesting to note how quickly the control of the 
lake gave the Americans the advantage. Perry's mere 
presence upon Lake Erie with his then superior squadron 
forced the English fleet into port, enabled him to join the 
American land forces and to assume the offensive with 
safety. The American rendezvous at the head of the lake 
was at Put-In-Bay. On the 19th of August, Harrison 
visited Perry on his flag-ship. The subsequent time was 
occupied in training his men, and in short cruises in the 
effort to bring the enemy to battle. Many of his men 
were sick. Perry himself had been stricken with lake 
fever, and for a time was confined to his cabin. Under 
the care of Dr. Usher Parsons, the surgeon of the Law- 
rence, after a week's illness, he partially recovered. His 
indisposition retarded somewhat the operations of the 
fleet. 

The control of the lake again asserts itself with remark- 
able force at this time. Barclay was not ready to light. 
General Proctor's army, however, then at Maiden, was in 



12 

urgent need of provisions and supplies. Land transporta- 
tion between Long Point, the English supply station, and 
Maiden, was such that Proctor's army could not l>e pro- 
vided by that line. It became necessary, therefore, to open 
communication between Maiden and Long Point by the 
lake, even at the risk of an engagement. Information of 
the condition of the English Commissary department had 
reached Perry at Put-In-Bay, about September 5th, and he 
expected the arrival of the English fleet. 

His captains were carefully instructed in his order of 
battle. On the evening of the 9th of September, the com- 
manders of the American fleet were summoned aboard the 
flag-ship, and written instructions given to each for his con- 
duct during the expected engagement. As the conference 
broke up, the Commodore, to impress the intent of his 
orders upon them, and to cover the uncertainties of naval 
actions, referred to the words of Nelson, upon a similar 
occasion, and gave as his final directions : " If you lay your 
enemy close alongside, you cannot be out of your place." 

Early in the morning of September 10th, 1813, the cry 
of " Sail Ho ! " from the mast-head of the Lawrence, indi- 
cated the approach of the English fleet. The day was 
warm and pleasant. The wind was light from the south- 
west. Promptly the American fleet was got under way 
and moved out from the islands. The position of the two 
fleets gave to the English the advantage of the weather- 
gage. Perry's anxiety to force an action, however, induced 
him to waive the advantage of position, and to take the 
shortest course to the opposing fleet, even at the risk of 
losing this tactical advantage. During the morning, an eagle 



3 



hovered in slow, majestic flight over the American squad- 
ron, gazing down at the unusual scene below. The pres- 
ence of the chosen emblem of America, could not fail to 
inspire men about to battle for their country. A little 
after 10 o'clock the American fleet was formed in line, the 
Niagara in the van. Calling his crew about him, Perry, in 
a few sentences, referred to the last words of Captain Law- 
rence, and displayed a blue Hag upon which had been 
formed in white letters, "Don't give up the ship.'" Upon 
being hoisted as the signal for battle, it was received with 
cheers by the crews of the different vessels. The cheering 
brought on deck several of the sick. One of them, Wil- 
son Mays, of Newport, Rhode Island, was ordered below 
by one of the officers, with the remark, " You are too weak 
to be here. 1 ' u I can do something, sir." " What can you 
do." "I can sound the pump, sir, and let a strong man go 
to the guns." Mays took his position by the pump, and 
at the end of the fight was found at his station witli a ball 
through his heart. 

As the American squadron slowly approached the Eng- 
lish fleet, a sudden change in the wind gave them the ad- 
vantage of the weather-gage. The breeze was light, and 
the squadron made hardly more than three knots an hour. 
A change in the disposition of the English vessels, that 
was noticed as the fleets approached each other, caused 
Perry to change his own order of sailing, and to place the 
Lawrence in position to bring her opposite the Detroit. 
In the English fleet were six vessels, in the American nine. 
The tonnage of the American fleet was 1(171 tons, of the 
English 1460. The English had 63 guns, the Americans 



14 

54. In long guns, the English had 33, the Americans 15, 
while in carronades the Americans had 39, the English 30. 
In weight of metal to a broadside the American squadron 
is claimed by some authorities to have been considerably 
heavier than the English. In number of men the two 
squadrons were not materially different. 

A large proportion of the Rhode Islanders who had fol- 
lowed Perry to the lakes were present upon the different 
vessels of the squadron. lie had also received a number 
of volunteers from the inhabitants of the lake shore, and a 
contingent from Harrison's army consisting largely of 
Kentuckians. Although many of these men had never 
seen a man-of-war before, and fought upon an unusual 
element, they rendered most excellent service. The crews 
of Barclay's squadron were made up in largely the same 
way, — a number from the inhabitants of the Canadian 
shore of the lake, another contingent from the regular 
English regiments in the neighborhood, and the balance 
regular seamen. 

Perry's line of approach to the English squadron brought 
the Scorpion, the Ariel and the Lawrence first into action. 
It began about noon by a gun from the Detroit. Eager to 
bring his enemy to close quarters, Perry forced the Law- 
rence ahead as rapidly as the wind would permit. The 
English concentrated their efforts on the flag-ship, and as 
she approached their line the Lawrence suffered severely. 
The Niagara did not bear down upon the Queen Charlotte, 
in accordance with the directions of the Commodore, but 
was maintained at such distance from the English vessel 
as to enable the Queen Charlotte to turn her battery upon 



L5 

the Lawrence. In consequence, the heavy vessels of the 
English squadron gave undivided attention to the Ameri- 
can flag-ship. Gun after gun was dismounted. Man after 
man fell dead to the deck or was carried wounded below. 
Lieutenant Brooks, son of a late Governor of Massachu- 
setts, a man of remarkable physique and great manly 
beauty, was struck in the hip by a cannon-ball and suf- 
fered such agony as he lay on the deck that he called 
upon the Commodore to kill him. Upon being taken to 
the cockpit and learning the impossibility of his recovery, 
he repeatedly inquired how the battle was going, and 
hoped that the Commodore would escape uninjured. lie 
died before the end of the action. The Lawrence was so 
shallow that it had been impossible to place the cockpit 
below the water line, and the wounded were only a trifle 
less subject to danger than when in their stations on 
deck. Midshipman Lamb went below with his arm shat- 
tered. His wound having been dressed by Surgeon Par- 
sons, he was directed to go forward and lie down. While 
the surgeon's hand was upon him, a cannon-ball dashed 
him across the cockpit and killed him instantly. Lieuten- 
ant Forest was struck by a spent ball and fell stunned at 
Perry's feet. Lieutenant Yarnall was badly wounded in 
the scalp; and with blood flowing over his face went 
below T for treatment. The enemy's shot had torn the ham- 
mocks that had been filled with reed or flag tops, and the 
cotton-like substauee from these cat-tails floated through 
the air like feathers. It caught upon Yarnairs blood- 
stained head and gave him much the appearance of an 
owl. Upon shortly going below to have another wound 



n; 

treated, his appearance caused some of the wounded to 
shout with laughter that the Devil had come among them. 
This gallant officer later in the action, his face horribly 
disfigured by a splinter that had been driven through his 
nose, iu addition to his other injuries, notified the Commo- 
dore that every officer in his division had been disabled, 
and asked for assistance. The Commodore had no other 
officers to detail, and Yarnall was obliged to tight his bat- 
tery as best he could. One of the guns was somewhat out 
of order, and Perry approached to aid in correcting the dif- 
ficulty. The captain of the gun chanced to be one of the 
Constitution's old men, and had drawn himself up with a 
manly air in the act of firing when a heavy cannon-shot 
passed through his body, and he dropped dead at Perry's 
feet. Young Alexander Perry, only twelve years of age, 
had two musket-balls pass through his hat, and was laid 
senseless on the deck by a splinter. 

At the commencement of the action six men had been 
detailed to the cockpit to assist the surgeon. After the 
battle had been raging an hour and a half, Perry, with a 
countenance perfectly calm, and in an ordinary voice, as 
though upon every-day duty, called through the cockpit 
skylight, "Doctor, send me one of your men. 11 At once 
one of the surgeon's assistants went on deck to assist in 
fighting the vessel. In a few minutes the Commodore 
repeated the call, and was obliged to follow it at short 
intervals with others, until the six men were on deck and 
the surgeon left alone to care for the wounded. Soon after, 
in the same calm tone, Perry called through the skylight to 
know if any of the wounded could pull a rope. At once 



17 

several of those slightly injured crawled upon deck to aid 
in continuing the battle. The injury to the Lawrence had 
somewhat opened the planks of the deck, and in several 
instances small rivulets of blood flowing from those above 
fell upon those in the cockpit below. Kvery gun but 
one had been dismounted. Out of his entire effective 
crew only fourteen were left uninjured. With the assist- 
ance of the chaplain and the purser, Perry himself suc- 
ceeded in loading and firing the last gun. The condition 
of the Lawrence rendered further offensive operations im- 
possible. The approach of the Niagara, at this time practi- 
cally uninjured, enabled the young Commodore to take 
that momentous step that changed defeat into victory. 
His passage in an open boat over the bullet-thrashed 
waters of the lake from the Lawrence to the Niagara at 
once changed the aspect of the battle. A short conference 
with her commander, variously reported by different wit- 
nesses, ended in Perry's at once assuming command of the 
vessel, and in sending her commander to bring up the 
small vessels astern. Kadically changing her course, and 
signalling the other vessels of his squadron for close action, 
he directed the Niagara toward the English line. With 
guns double-shotted he passed between the Queen Charlotte 
and the Detroit on the one side, and the vessels near the 
head of the English fleet on the other. At half pistol shot 
these vessels, which had become partly unmanageable in 
consequence of their injuries, were raked with terrible 
effect. In about fifteen minutes after Perry assumed com- 
mand of the Niagara the Queen Charlotte surrendered. 
Her example was soon followed by the larger English 



18 

vessels. Returning to the Lawrence, upon her blood- 
stained decks, amid his dead and wounded companions, he 
received the formal surrender of the English fleet. The 
English officers picked their way among the dead and 
wounded to the quarter-deck, and offered their swords in 
token of submission. Perry requested them to retain their 
side arms and extended to his captives every consideration. 
The loss in the English squadron had been 41 killed and 
94 wounded, according to Commodore Barclay's report. 
The first and second in command of each of the English 
vessels had been killed or disabled. In the American fleet 
27 were killed and 96 wounded. Of this number 22 had 
been killed and 61 wounded on the Lawrence alone, out of 
her total crew of 101 effective men. A loss of 83 men, 
over 82 per cent., in killed and wounded, exhibits the 
terrific character of the struggle on the flag-ship. Never 
before in a naval action, except where the defeated vessel 
has been sunk with all on board, had the percentage of loss 
equalled that on the Lawrence. Two of the English 
vessels, the Little Belt and the Chippeway, sought safety 
in flight. They were pursued by the Scorpion and the 
Trippe, captured and brought back to the fleet. Sailing- 
master Champlin of the Scorpion fired the first gun on the 
American side in opening the action, and in bringing-to the 
Little Belt he also fired the last gun. The capture of the 
English fleet was complete. It was one of the few squad- 
ron engagements in which any portion of the navy of the 
United States had been engaged. It was also the first 
time an entire English fleet had ever been surrendered. 



19 

Literally could Perry report, "We have met the enemj 
and they are ours." 

The part taken by the Niagara in this engagement pre- 
vious to the time that Perry boarded her lias given rise to 
a long discussion. Until Perry trod her decks she had held 
aloof from the English fleet, and was not in a position to 
render that hearty and valuable assistance to the Lawrence 
that could reasonably have been expected from the second 
in command. The motives that actuated the commander 
of the Niagara cannot be discussed at this time. Shortly 
before Thermopylae, two Greeks were on leave at Alpeni 
suffering from a severe complaint of the eyes. Eurytus, 
foreseeing that a decisive action was about to occur, called 
for his armor and directed his attendant Helot to lead 
him into the Pass. Joining Leonidas, he became one of the 
immortal three hundred. He laid his enemy close along- 
side, and was not out of his place. His memory was vener- 
ated by his countrymen, and his devotion commanded their 
admiration. Aristodemus, however, ignoring the example 
of his comrade, returned home without taking part in the 
conflict. He was subjected to the scorn and contempt of 
his fellow citizens. Unable to endure his disgrace, at the 
end of a year he was killed at the battle of Platsea while 
striving to retrieve his position. The marked difference 
between the influence of the Niagara in the action, before 
and after Perry took command, illustrates his surpassing 
personal influence upon the conflict. It emphasizes his 
words as he left the Lawrence, "If a victory is to be 
gained, I'll gain it." 

After the conflict, the two fleets anchored in Put-In-Bay. 



2<> 



The control of tlie lake definitely passed to the Americans. 
They at once assumed the offensive. A portion of Har- 
rison's army immediately marched on Detroit. The balance 
were transported by water to the neighborhood of Maiden. 
General Proctor was obliged to abandon Maiden and re- 
treat. Tecumseh, unable to comprehend the situation, in 
forcible language expressed his dissatisfaction with the 
action of the English commander. The retreat was hurried 
forward with the utmost precipitation. Harrison re-cap- 
tured Detroit, and the whole territory of Michigan. The 
pursuit of Proctor and the Indians was pushed with all 
possible celerity. 

Leaving his squadron in command of his subordinates, 
Perry volunteered as an aid to General Harrison. He ren- 
dered valuable assistance to the commanding; general, 
and took a prominent part in the battle of the Thames. 
" While passing from the right of the front line to the left 
wing. Perry's horse," according to McKenzie, "plunged 
into a deep slough near the swamp, and sank nearly to the 
breast. In an instant Perry vaulted over the horse's head 
to the dry ground. The horse extricated himself, and 
snorting as he trod the solid ground again, bounded for- 
ward at the speed he had held before the accident. Perry 
clutched the animal's mane, as he released himself from the 
marsh, and vaulted into the saddle without in the slightest 
degree checking the speed of the beast or touching bridle or 
stirrup until he was fairly seated. The circumstance was 
witnessed by the Kentuckians, who were approaching 
the enemy at a charging pace, and who cheered the brave 
sailor as he passed them." 



21 

Few victories have had more important results. The 
defeat of Proctor at the battle of the Thames followed, as 
well as the death of Tecuniseh, that in a measure retrieved 
the disaster at the River Raisin. The Indian alliance at 
once collapsed. The frontier was no longer subject to the 
savage atrocities that had disgraced the war. Canada, 
north of Lake Erie, was conquered. The Northwest Ter- 
ritory was secured to the United States. This region now 
occupied by Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin 
and Minnesota, and including those portions of New York 
and Pennsylvania bordering on lake Erie, now supports a 
population of about seventeen millions of people. One- 
quarter, therefore, of the present population of the United 
States have found homes in that territory secured by Perry 
and his companions. It has developed such cities as Cleve- 
land, Detroit, Toledo, Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Paul. 
It teems with agricultural and mining enterprises, with 
manufactures and with commerce. The lakes upon which 
it borders furnish means of transportation second only to 
the ocean. Great ships ply between busy cities that line 
the borders of these inland seas. An interior commerce 
has developed far beyond the wildest anticipations of eighty 
years ago. In either of those great steamships, the product 
of Cleveland industry, the North Land and the North West, 
the combined fleets that fought the battle of Lake Erie, 
could be stowed away and still have room for a thousand 
tons more. The gross tonnage of each of these steamships 
is 4244 tons. The combined tonnage of the American and 
English fleets at the battle of Lake Erie, was 3131 tons. 

This celebration of " Perry's Victory " uses a term that 



90 

denotes the unusual influence a single individual exerted 
upon the conflict. Preeminently was the victory upon 
Lake Erie due to the personal efforts of Commodore Perry. 
To fight the flagship to a wreck, to be able in such scenes, 
and in circumstances so unusual, to transfer his flag to an- 
other portion of the fleet, to use his remaining resources so 
effectively as to turn probable defeat into one of the most 
remarkable victories of his age, established his reputation 
as a naval commander. The inestimable services of Ad- 
miral Suffren on the coast of India exerted a commanding 
influence upon naval affairs in those waters, and secured 
the commendation of France. Even his English opponents 
after the war united in recognizing his combinations. The 
services of Nelson at the Nile, at Trafalgar, and particularly 
at Cape St. Vincent, have been remembered by a grateful 
country, and his position as a naval hero recognized by the 
civilized world. Farragut, in taking the lead of his some- 
what disordered line at Mobile, and by his passage of Forts 
St. Philip and Jackson, has placed his name among the 
great Admirals of the world. Naval history does not fur- 
nish, however, another instance to equal the overwhelming 
influence of Perry's services on Lake Erie. The fateful 
passage from the wreck of the Lawrence to the uninjured 
Niagara appeals as forcefully to the student of naval his- 
tory as to the popular comprehension of Perry's part in the 
battle. That gallant act calls to mind another deed, in- 
spired by similar motives but of an entirely different char- 
acter, where an illustrious son of Ohio gained undying 
renown : 



23 

" The first that the General saw were the groups 

Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops ; 

What was done? What to do? A glance told him both. 

Then striking his spurs with a terrible oath, 

He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzas, 

And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because 

The sight of the master compelled it to pause. 

With foam and with dust the black charger was gray ; 

By the flash of his eye, and the red nostril's play, 

He seemed to the whole great army to say : 

' I have brought you Sheridan all the way 

From Winchester down to save the day.' ' 

The determination to succeed, the readiness to grasp a 
sudden and unexpected situation, the ability to apply the 
necessary remedy, and the unusual personal magnetism, 
were the same in Sheridan as in Perry. 

It would be indeed a narrow view to assume that Perry's 
unaided efforts obtained the victory at Lake Erie. Gener- 
ally he was seconded in the most gallant and effective 
manner by his officers and men. No commander ever re- 
ceived more devoted support than was rendered by the 
crew of the Lawrence. Yarnall, Brooks, Forest, — could 
men be braver or more faithful to their duty ? Rhode 
Island cannot forget her heroes. She remembers with 
pardonable pride the part taken in the battle by her sons. 
Forty-seven of the fifty-four guns in the American squad- 
ron wer ecommanded by Rhode Islanders. Perry, Turner, 
Champlin, Brownell and Almy commanding vessels, Par- 
sons, Breese, Dunham, Taylor and young Alexander Perry 
bravely performing their several duties, not forgetting the 
hardy sailors that came with them from the coast, indicate 



24 

the important part that the men from Narragansett Bay 
bore in the conflict. The momentous results of this vic- 
tory, so largely due to the efforts of her sons, constitute 
Rhode Island's gift to the West and to the Northwest in 
the war of 1812, and equal the support she rendered the 
South during the Revolution through the services of Gen- 
eral Nathanael Greene. 

At the opening of the Erie Canal, the cannon of Perry's 
fleet, and those that they had captured, were located along 
the line of the water-way at intervals of about ten miles. 
As the first boats entered the canal at Buffalo, the first of 
these cannon was fired. As the sound reached the second, 
it conveyed it to the third. Gun responded to gun, until 
in an hour and twenty minutes the fact of the opening of 
the canal at Buffalo was announced to the citizens of New 
York. The cannon that had gained for America the con- 
trol of the lakes, and those they had conquered, celebrated 
the completion of an adjunct to these inland seas that con- 
nected them directly with the ocean by a route entirely 
within the limits of the United States. 

The monument that stands in yonder Park, and the cir- 
cumstances of to-day, exhibit the gratitude of Ohio for the 
services of Rhode Island's son. The inestimable gifts of a 
similar nature that this great state has made to the nation, 
— Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, — indicate that Ohio can sym- 
pathize with Rhode Island in the veneration entertained 
for the character and the services of Perry. 

No city can be great without inspiring the patriotism of 
its citizens. Civic pride, as history often tells, has been 
the motive underlying many noble deeds. The .present 



25 

centennial lias furnished the occasion for the exercise of 
similar qualities. The gift of Rockefeller Park proves that 
the welfare of Cleveland, and pride in her prosperity and 
success, are dear to her citizens. The $600,000 required to 
secure the land for the new park represent a vast amount 
of stored-up human energy. This sum equals the labor 
of one thousand men for one year. That such a gift is 
possible from a single individual exhibits the wonderful 
results to be derived, from intelligent effort in the great 
republic. 

The monuments that ornament the Forest City evidence 
the generosity of her citizens. In their mute magnificence 
they deny that republics are ungrateful. Cleaveland, Perry, 
Garfield, and, by that noble tribute in the Public Square, 
the heroes of the Civil War. have all been fittingly remem- 
bered. 

The progress that has been made during the past 
hundred years is but the basis for still greater advances in 
the years to come. Distance, as it was understood at the 
foundation of the Forest City, has practically been annihi- 
lated by the steamship, the telegraph, the railroad and the 
telephone. The development of manufactures secures to 
the most humble facilities unknown one hundred years ago. 
The skill, enterprise and energy that have developed the 
United States will shortly push the surplus products from 
its fields of agriculture, from its mines of iron, coal and 
precious minerals, and from its ever increasing products of 
manufacturing, into the markets of the world. To protect 
the efforts of those engaged in such enterprises, to secure 
their peaceful consideration in distant parts of the earth, it 



26 

is necessary to follow them by means that will secure 
respect for the flag. No state has received greater benefit 
from the sea power than Ohio, although situated several 
hundred miles from the ocean. Her people should not rest 
until there floats upon the deep, fashioned by American 
designers and constructed of American material by American 
workmen, a mighty battleship bearing the name and repu- 
tation of Ohio, — a ship that shall keep the sea in any storm 
and proudly bear aloft the flag that floated over the Con- 
stitution when, to the thunder of her guns, the red emblem 
of England was lowered on the Guerriere; a ship that 
possibly some brave and patriotic son of this Common- 
wealth may, in the just cause of the great Republic, guide 
to a victory as marked for his personal influence as that of 
Perry or of Sheridan. 



REFERENCES 



Lift of Oliver Hazard Perry.— J. M. Niles. Hartford, 1820. 

Life of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. — A. S. Mackenzie. 
New York, 1840. 

Inauguration of the Perry Statin of .Y<//y^>7.— Address by 
William P. Sheffield. John P. Sanborn, Newport, R. I., 1885. 

Battle "f Lake A'/vY.— Discourse by Usher Parsons. Benjamin 
T. Albro, Providence, 1853. 

Oration on the Fortieth Anniversary of tin Battle of Lake Erie. — 
George H. Calvert. Metcalf and Company, Cambridge, 1853. 

Battle of Lake Erie. — With notice of Commodore Elliott's con- 
duct in that engagement. Tristam Purges. Philadelphia., 1839. 

New England Historical and Genealogical Register. — January, 
1803. Art. by Usher Parsons, giving biographical sketch of the 
officers of Perry's squadron. 

History of the Late War in the Western Country.— Robert B. 
McAfee. Lexington, Ky., 1810. Boston Atheneum. 

Pictorial Field Bool' of the War of 1812.— B. J. Lossing. 

Blue Jackets of 1812.— W. J. Abbot. Dodd, Mead & Co.. New- 
York, 1887. 

The Naval War of 1812— Theodore Roosevelt. New York, 
1889. 

History of the United States Navy from 1775 to 1898.— E. S. 
Maclay, A. M. D. Appleton & Co., New York. 

Navy of tin United States.— Lieut. G. E. Emmons, I'. S. Y. 
Washington, D. C, 1853. 



28 

Battles of the United States hy La ml ami Sea. — H. B. Dawson. 
Johnson, Fry & Co., New York, 1858. 

Narrative and Critical History of America. — Vol. VII. J. Win- 
sor, Editor. Boston, 1889. 

Regimental Losses in fJie American Civil War. — W. F. Fox. 

Naval History of Great Britain. — William James. London, 
1837. 

Influence of Sea Power upon History. — Capt. A. T. Mahan, U. S. 
N. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1891. 

Influence of Sea Power upon t/ie French Revolution and Empire. 
—Capt. A. T. Mahan, U. S. N. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1891. 

Manual of Naval Tactics. — Jas. H. Ward, Commander U. S. N. 
D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1859. 

Journal of Royal United Service Institution. — July, 1896. Vol. 
XL. No. 221. Art. Study of Naval Warfare. Prof. J. K. Laugh- 
ton, K. N. 

The Story of ( 'leveland.— Art. by H. E. Bourne. New England 
Magazine, August, 1896. 

The Western Reserve University. — Art. by E. O. Stevens. New 
England Magazine, April, 1896. 

Historical Collections of <>li io.— Centennial Edition. 

Grote's History of Greece.— Vol. II. New York, 1883. 

United States Census. — -1890. 



39 



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